As reported earlier in the Yukon News, following the first threats of US-inflicted tariffs, Premier Pillai met with Trump junior in North Carolina to make nice with him. He downed bear meat (notorious for harbouring difficult to eliminate pathogens and parasites) snacks, then offered him some clothing and a tungsten mining deal in order to secure some kind of favourable relationship with the US administration, What else of our Yukon was offered up, or will we ever know?
What is known is that Trump Jr. is a part owner of U.S.-based outfitter Macmillan River Adventures which allows him to come up to kill our wildlife and bring home body parts just to show off. While trophy hunting is still legal in the Yukon, the vast majority of people I have talked with agree that the practice is barbaric and unnecessary and should be outlawed. Furthermore, economic benefits are likely minimal considering the fact that many, if not most, outfitters offering lucrative hunt packages here are based out of the territory, like MacMillan, so very little profit stays in the Yukon. As well, we literally have no idea how many bears there are to offer up for slaughter in the first place. The Yukon government has chosen to be quite satisfied with very outdated estimates only. Still, many people are thrilled to come from far away just to see bears from a safe distance and go home happy with a photo, just as they are to see the Northern Lights. So do we really have to encourage the mindless slaughter of our iconic species that still roam freely and so majestically? No, of course not!
This is a sad situation and it is not surprising that our Premier has recently been inundated with requests to bar Trump Jr. from the Yukon. He is an armed and dangerous foreign predator. And while tariff discussions between Premier Pillai and Trump Jr. did happen in person, it seems little was achieved except to underline our willingness to be non-confrontational by avoiding any mention of possible defensive retaliation at the time, and the prospect of yet another potentially disastrous mining project, subject only to our pathetically outdated century-old Mining Act. It's all just outrageous and embarrassing.
Peggy Land
Whitehorse
